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Before you enrol

Step 1. Make sure that you clearly understand what it is that landscape designers do!

Landscape and garden designers are a group of professionals who prepare designs for, and at times oversee, the implementation of the design for the development of large and small spaces. Among other services, they may provide:

  • Preparation of detailed landscape design plans including plant shedules.
  • Cost estimates for agreed works
  • Designs for hard landscaping elements such as walls, paving, decks, garden sculpture & artwork
  • Designs or procurment for special elements such as water features, furniture and lighting
  • Incorporation and advice on sustainable landscape principles
  • Obtaining pricing, nominating contractors and obtaining tender prices for construction
  • Supervison of all works and installations
  • Supply of plant materials and routine maintenance of designed gardens
Completing this Diploma of Landscape Design will arm you with the skills necessary to conduct a landscape consultancy business offering the services listed above.

Special note: Starting any new business is risky - it takes time to make a profit.  You might work long hours in your first year completing a small number of landscaped spaces and gardens, increase that in the second year and by the third year, be completing enough work such that you make a profit.

Step 2: Read the syllabus below

The Diploma of Landscape Design consists of 6 stages and a final project. Here is a 1 page summary.

Stage 1

An introduction to the world of landscape and garden design including, but not restricted to, a study of the following:

Stage 2

Toward becoming a designer of garden spaces [using hand drawing techniques].
  • Examples of hand drawn landscape & garden plans.
  • Techniques of hand drawing - using pencil, pen, water colour rendering, hand sketching. The use of colour.
  • Developing 2-D planting symbols
  • Preparing technical plans - title blocks and borders, use of scale in technical drawings
  • Designing unique north points.
  • Developing a logo for your garden design consultancy
  • Simple site analysis
  • An introduction to the principles of design.

Stage 3

Becoming a professional designer of garden spaces. Here we teach the use of hand drawing skills and their use in producing landscape plans.
  • Sketching 3-D perspectives.
  • A study of garden art and sculpture.
  • Producing botanical illustrations.
  • Design for part courtyard.
  • Design for an outdoor classroom.
  • Spaces for special needs - catering for dementia and Alzheimers patients.
  • Advanced elements of design.
  • More complex site analysis.
  • How to run a small business.
  • Web sites and marketing.
  • Contracts an administration.

Stage 4

Introducing Computer Aided Drawing (CAD) because we believe that the effcient use of CAD software is the key to building a successful business.
  • An introduction to the use of CAD software including GardenCAD to design gardens [link to chapter 1]
  • Designing part of a courtyard in CAD
  • Design for an outdoor classroom
  • Design for a space 10 meters by 13 meters behind a two story house
  • Symbols in elevation
  • Establishing section and elevation views
  • Developing new symbols
  • Title blocks and logos
  • Site inventory
  • Designing for water wise gardens
  • Layers
  • Presentation

Stage 5

Advanced 2-D CAD. Ensuring that you can mange an entire project from start to finish using 2-D CAD.
  • Online course on using GardenCAD
  • Site measurement and triangulation
  • Concept plans
  • Own plant symbol in CAD
  • Design for front garden
  • Terrace house garden design project [client brief -outdoor entertaining, water features, sustainable design, lighting, sculptures, garden art, wall hangings and mosaics, boardwalks]
  • Design for large scale urban development - cadastral maps, working with surveyors
  • Rear garden courtyrad home
  • Large scale wetlands
  • Design for a rural property

Stage 6

Designing in a 3-D space. Many clients have great difficulty underrstanding 2-D drawings. Here we teach you to model in 3-D using modern software such as google SketchUp.
  • An introduction to SketchUp
  • Design a seat and bollard using SketchUp
  • Design screening for water storage tank
  • 3-D model of terrace house garden design
  • Design of water feature in 3-D
  • Designing on sloping sites
  • SketchUp course
  • Using other CAD software (AutoCAD and IntelliCAD) in 3-D mode

Major project

You will develop a complete plan for a site that you have access to. This site should be reasonably large - a whole suburban block with front and rear yard (or larger). You will need to generate a site invenory, including slope analysis, check the soil and climatic conditions of the site, produce a 2-D design with a suitable planting list making sure that you design with sustainable principles in mind. Your design must contain some form of urban wetland, underground tanks, suitable planting such that little supplementary watering is required once established, hardscape dimensions, details (boardwalk) over wetland, costing materials specification, several sheets. You will treat the project as though you are going to manage the entire project and develop costing using spreadsheets, take into account tax rtaes (such as GST) leasing and hiring of equipment and manage Occupational Health and Safety  regulations etc.
 

Step 3: Try before you buy

We offer the Diploma on a 'try before you buy' basis and let you make substantial progress toward the completion of the Diploma before charging a fee. The fee we charge simply defrays to cost of providing you with feedback. Here are the steps to take and things to evaluate before considering a formal enrolment.
  1. Since this Diploma is taught exclusively online, you will need a computer and fast Internet access (commonly called broadband access).
  2. It is a prerequisite that all students complete an online Basic Computer Skills course before an enrolment can be accepted.  A suitable (and free) course on basic computer skills is available at our main company web site. We want you to take this course before enrolling, because it gives you experience in online learning and reassures us that your computer and Internet connection are suitable for our learning methods and materials. While working though the Basic Computer Skills course, you will also be asked to send us a small piece of work that you have done [a simple drawing]. Thus we will know that you can send project material to us, ready for comment. We will also ask you to install several software tools, as you work through the Basic Computer Skills course. A number of these software tools will be required for later work.
  3. To take the Basic Computer Skills Course, please visit http://www.designcad.com.au/sta. Log on as a guest, no user name or password are required.
  4. When you have finished the Basic Computer Skills course, we ask that you return here and complete Stages 1 and 2 of the Diploma. Taking the Basic Computer Skills course and completing the first two stages in the Diploma will take considerable time, but by then, you would have progressed some considerable way towards obtaining your Diploma of Landscape Design. When you have completed these stages, you should have a good feel for what we do and feel comfortable about setting up a more formal program and gaining access to feedback and our 'behind the scenes' resources.
  5. When you begin, please send us an email note letting us know who you are and what you aims are.
Important note:
  • In order to be awarded the Diploma, students will be required to complete and pass all sections of the course within 12- 24 month of the course start date.
  • Although some modules form part of an accredited garden Design Diploma and several of the tutors teach at University and college level, this Diploma is not accredited by any institution or organisation. We have no intention of applying for accreditation as we wish to keep fees low.
  • Early on, you will need to purchase some hand drafting materials - drawing board, scale rulers, technical and colouring pens etc.
 
Please contact us at info@gardencad.net if you require more information about the Diploma.